Howdy

[Brenjen]

Decided to join up when I was reading Cebby's ARB diff & cv mod thread over on Yota-tech; clicked the link to his rig & saw on his home page that this site was here. I intend to do the ARB lockers in my stock '95 4Runner & the way he went about it was the way I need to do it too. Send the diffs out to be geared & just do a swap then sell my stock diffs. My ultimate goal is a 4Runner that is still capable of being a DD but able to tackle moderate trails, hill climbs, sand, gravel, snow & a little mud. (I'm not into climbing boulders the size of my truck or fording rivers that need a snorkel)

Front & rear ARB's, 4.88's, 33's & some armor like sliders, skid plates, front & rear tube bumpers, only lifted enough to accommodate the 33's stuffed & on board air would suit me fine. A winch is nice but not a necessity as I have a lot of chain, cable & nylon strap to help my come along get me out if I happened to get stuck. If I start snapping stuff as time goes on because I start to get more intrepid I'd probably add more mods like some longfields etc.

[Ric]

welcome

[YotaGirl]

Welcome to UY! Now, lets see some pictures of your rig!

[Good Times]

welcome aboard!

[Brenjen]

Welcome to UY! Now, lets see some pictures of your rig!


Nothing to show pics of right now it's bone stock, Toyota garnet red, 3.0 & running boards lol

I've had it a year now; I bought it off a car lot. It was sitting there with a bad water pump bleeding all over the lot, I got it for a song, replaced the pump & slapped in a timing kit. Since this was my first Toyota I wanted to get used to it before I did anything else to it. To be honest, the water pump had me skittish about how well it was engineered at first, I'm used to my old Dodges & the idea of a cramped working area combined with a water pump that was inside the engine made me think "WHOA!" What else is going to be engineered to kill the will of the average shade tree mechanic who barely has opposable thumbs?!?! (ME)

Now that I've had it a while & trust it more, it seems like it would be a good candidate for a DD/trail rig combo. I'm just reading until my eyes bleed trying to figure out what route to take as far as lockers & whether or not I should do a manual hub conversion. I.E. - manual hubs & aussie up front/ARB in the back or....Aussie rear/ARB front? ADD hubs & the same configuration questions? ARB front & rear? And if I go ARB, should I have a local shop set it up with stock gears? Try to set it up myself? Buy a complete third from Wab-Fab or Marlin Crawler & sell my working open diffs to offset the cost? Or even if I should just go aussie's front & rear & leave the ADD alone (is it even possible?) At least with a lunchbox locker I'm fairly certain I can do the work myself. As you can see my head is swimming because I don't know enough about these Toyotas yet.

I'm 100% sure I want to lock it!

I'm 100% sure I don't want to bother with lift! (32's or possibly 33's)

I'm 100% sure I want to armor up the underside!

I'm 100% sure I want sliders!

I'm 100% sure I want an ARB style front bumber!

I'm 100% sure I want a Marlin Crawler style rear bumper!

I'm 100% sure I want onboard CO2 power tank set-up!

& I'm 100% sure I'll still have to drive it on the street everyday!

Other than that, I'm lost as a three year old alone at the state fair. :confused:

[4runnerchevy]

Yay! :thumbup:

[Cebby]

Welcome aboard! Glad you found us over here.

Sounds like you and I have a similar blueprint for our 4Runners - capable daily drivers. I'm going a little bigger on tires, a bit deeper on gears, and a little more beef in the engine bay, but we have the same idea!!

[Brenjen]

Thanks for all the welcomes! I'm still in the air about gears, I have to look up the code for my gears (I did before but forgot what they are) If they're 4.88's already I'll go 5.29's. The tires....I don't want radical lift & I don't want to crank my torsion bars up, I wouldn't be opposed to a little lift but it'd have to keep it's current ride & handling characteristics for the most part; 35's are as tall a tire as I would want either way. The engine in mine still feels strong, if it goes south on me I'll probably look into a 3.4L swap.

[4runnerchevy]

If the gears have never been changed then they are not 4.88's. 33" tires go with 4.88's, 35" go with 5.29's (I should practice what I preach), anything above 5.29's the teeth get too small.

[slosurfer]

Welcome to UY! Do you have an auto or manual transmission? If you have the auto, you may have 4.88's.

[Brenjen]

Some came with 4.88's according to something I read, it said a few came with odd gearing & it was unknown why. I wish I could remember where I read it I'd provide the link; I'm 99.99% sure mine is stock & average but I'm going to check the codes to be certain. I have 31's on it right now; it had them when I bought the truck. Once I figure out the gear ratio I'll decide what to do about tires since it needs them right now.

I also have a little sag in the back & the shocks are starting to boat back there so it's time for new shocks in the back & I figured I'd put in a set of springs while I was at it. I put Bilsteins up front just after I got it because it had a broken shock on the pass. side. I have read that NAPA springs are good to level these back out but they don't have a heavy duty version & my 4Runner will be used a few times a year to deliver mail on a rural route (wifes a rural carrier) so there will be a load in the back occasionally, that's why I'm not sure what springs to use, I wouldn't mind a slight 1" - 1.5" lift but I'm not sure if it'll look right without lifting the entire thing & the whole cv wear thing. If I do lift the entire truck by that much, then 35's will be an option...but I'm still new to 4Runners & Toyotas in general so; I'm still in the dark & looking for the light switch!

[Brenjen]

Welcome to UY! Do you have an auto or manual transmission? If you have the auto, you may have 4.88's.


Yes, it's an automatic.....that's what the link I referred to said too. I wish I could remember where that was.

[Cebby]

Look at your sticker in the door jamb. G144 = 4.88's

If you are going 33's with the 3.0 and auto, you are going to want 5.29's. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

[slosurfer]

This will help you with your doorjamb code

http://toyota.off-road.com/toyota/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=274535

[Brenjen]

I just went out & looked while you were posting this, according to Toyota@offroad.com - http://toyota.off-road.com/toyota/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=274535 the G144 code stands for 8", 4.875 ratio, 4 pinion

If it stands for 4.88's then that's what I have because my code is indeed G144

[slosurfer]

That's the code I have also. I can tell you from experience that with 33's it is barely tolerable without regearing. If mine was a true DD, I wouldn't be running the tires I have now without regearing.

The two things I would install first:

1. The biggest aux.tranny cooler you can fit and a tranny temp gauge.

2. Sonoran Steel IFS rear a-arm brace or another brand, but you really need something there as even just potholes could start to flex your frame at that weak point.

[Brenjen]

Hey thanks for the heads up on that brace, I saw one for sale (somewhere) & was wondering how much it was really needed in the big picture since I've never heard of anyone using one...or talking about using one at least.

[thook]

Saying "hello!", Brenjen.

Hot and humid enough for you down there?(If you don't remember, I'm up in Winslow)